8 Jin Chow's Backstory

"See what? This tree? What's with this?" Jin Chow checked the closest tree where Liu Kai's finger was pointing to.

"So that's how it works… I'm the only one that can see this screen," Liu Kai mumbled to himself while still checking the screen.

"What is it?" Jin Chow asked as he moved closer and looked at the direction Liu Kai was pointing to, but nothing was there.

"What are you staring at? Are you good? Did you hit your head or something?" Jin Chow questioned Liu Kai's behavior.

"It's nothing… I'm sorry. Just go on. I'll catch up soon." Liu Kai waved his hand and signaled him to keep moving forward. Jin Chow narrowed his eyes and continued walking.

'I don't understand this guy. Is he crazy or something? Why is he here alone? I don't believe his story, but it looked like he doesn't know what he's doing. Should I leave him here? He has a blessing that can help him get back to the Monarchy,' Jin Chow thought to himself while walking, not knowing what to do with Liu Kai.

'What's this status window?' Liu Kai held his chin using his right hand and moved his face closer to the blue screen that materialized in front of him.

[Status Window]

Agility: 7(+2*)

Power: 4(+2*)

Stamina: 10

Mentality: 15

Durability: 7

Perception: 3

*Permanently added.

'This is... my stats? Am I in a game or something?' He asked himself.

'Man, why am I so weak? So that guy earlier survived a giant centipede without getting harm? If that's true, then he could defeat me if he uses his blessing. I need to get cautious.' Liu Kai complained and pulled his hair using both hands.

"Oh, can I control this?" He suddenly stopped pulling his hair and tried to touch the screen.

"Is this a touch screen?" He asked himself. His question received an answer somehow after his right hand went through the screen.

'I can't control it, laaaame. But this is better than what I thought. I'm still here in Ashborne. I thought I was sent to a different world. I should stop watching anime like that,' he thought to himself.

"Oh, I might lose him." Liu Kai cut himself and jogged to catch up to Jin Chow.

"By the way, what's your skill?" Liu Kai asked after he caught up. He didn't want to tell Jin Chow about what he saw since he doesn't know it himself. After seeing Jin Chow's confused face, it was better to get as much information that he could get from him since he doesn't trust him yet.

"I call it 'Indestructible," Jin Chow proudly answered the question while lightly pounding his chest.

"Indestructible? It sounds like a tank's skill. Can you explain how it works?" Liu Kai couldn't help but ask.

"Well, it's simple. It means that nothing can harm my body while my skill is activated. I. am. Indestructible."

"What? That can't be right. You weren't so indestructible when I gripped your hand earlier." Liu Kai smiled at him after teasing him.

"The thing is… there's a limit to how many times I can activate it and how long I can keep it activated. So I only do it at the right time. I didn't do it earlier because I knew you would not hurt me that much, and you were just asking questions," Jin Chow answered nonchalantly and walked.

"I get it… you only activate it if your life is in danger. Is that how you survived?" Liu Kai hinted at the 'incident,' Jin Chow said earlier. He was looking to bring it up to get more information about how dangerous the world is now.

"Yes…" Jin Chow replied but went silent. He had a grim expression and looked like he wanted to say something but was hesitating. Liu Kai noticed, so he asked.

"What happened back then?"

"I was the only one that lived..." Jin chow's voice trailed off, but he continued. His voice shook as he told the story.

"We all knew that we couldn't beat or outrun that Giant Centipede, so we resolved ourselves to fight, knowing that we couldn't win."

"I tried to hold it back as much as I could, but it was too strong. It tried to bite and eat me, but it couldn't so whenever I got in its way to stop it for everyone to escape, it just smashed me down to the ground and chased after them."

"I—I watched them get eaten."

"I'm so sorry. You don't have to say it if you don't want to. And It wasn't your fault. None of it was," Liu Kai interrupted. Based on what he can see on Jin Chow's reaction, he looked like he was blaming himself for what happened. He couldn't even imagine the guilt Jin Chow must have been feeling.

They stopped walking after Liu Kai said those words. The atmosphere became heavy. It was pure coincidence that Liu Kai spotted the cockroaches' head peeking out from a pile of broken branches just a few meters away. Liu Kai didn't know how to console Jin Chow since they've only just met, so he went towards the giant insect and removed the leaves covering the dead carcass and asked.

"So how do we burn this overgrown cockroach?"

Jin Chow snapped out of his self-loathing when he heard Liu Kai asked. He followed and helped him remove the remaining branches still on top of the giant carcass.

"We need something to drag it with. Can you grab some of those branches?" Jin Chow requested as he pointed to some branches they just removed.

They took the leaves off some branches that had the same lengths and tied them together with some vines. Then they slowly pushed the dead insect onto their makeshift wagon. Once they finished, they held each end of the same side and pulled. Letting the other side drag on the ground.

"Now, we need a clear and open space to start a fire," Jin Chow told Liu Kai.

"Yeah, I went through a grass field not far from here," Liu Kai suggested as they both headed towards the direction he pointed to. He remembered where the giant cockroach tried to maul him.